


Lay Me Down

by xflightless



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-14
Updated: 2013-10-14
Packaged: 2017-12-29 08:56:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1003457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xflightless/pseuds/xflightless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Percy's reaction to finding out Annabeth died during the battle between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lay Me Down

"A-Anna—" Percy stumbled forward and felt as if someone had hit his legs with a sledgehammer and then had him walk. Every step he took, his legs felt heavier. People parted as he walked, giving him a path and an early glance at Annabeth’s lifeless body. His eyes watered and he shook his head as he stopped walking. He raised the back of his hand to his mouth to hold back a sob, but it did nothing to help.

"N-no… No. No, it can’t— Annabeth, no. _No, no, no_ —” Percy continued to shake his head and tears streaked his cheeks now. Some reached out for him but Percy moved away. No. He didn’t want comfort. It would only make this nightmare more real and he— “She’s not dead. S-she’s not.” He could feel himself slipping away, all his sanity, drifting off to who knew where. Again, he stumbled forward, and when he was a few steps away from her body, he felt to his knees. He crawled the rest of the way to her, and when he reached her, he cradled her face like the most precious jewel he’d ever seen. “Annabeth, p-please… W-wake up, please…” He sobbed, pressing his forehead to hers. “P-please wake up. W-we… We were going… I was going to spend the r-rest of my—” Sniffling and sobs were heard around the camp, but Percy heard none of that.

All he heard was the absence of Annabeth’s reply. He was going to eventually ask her to marry him, they were going to have kids, and own a house — they were going to grow old together and now all of that was gone, just like that.

Percy raised his head and let out a shaky breath. He pressed a kiss to Annabeth’s forehead and was visibly struggling to keep himself together. He wiped her cheeks free of the tears that had falling from his eyes and onto her face, and then he picked her up in his arms and stood.

He looked around the camp — at the Romans and the Greeks — and then he turned. Jason came forth and he and Percy nodded. He pressed another kiss to Annabeth’s forehead before he handed her over to Jason and then he wiped his cheeks, despite tears still falling. It took a few moments, but when his face was dry, Percy turned to the campers. He swallowed thickly and he parted his lips, voice wavering.

"I… This is what we w-wanted to…" He tightly shut his eyes. "This is what we wanted to avoid. That old rivalry? Why do we have to keep it?!” He asked, opening his eyes, anger coursing through his veins. “We don’t have to follow what people did in the old days — if we did, we wouldn’t have any of this,” he said, motioning around Camp Half Blood, even though it looked like a war zone right now. And it had been. “We can change things— avoid any more casualties. And we can—”

"—He’s lying!" A shrill voice shouted from the back. The color drained from Percy’s face as Octavian pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "He’s lying to lower your guard, and when you trust him he’s going to—"

Percy charged and tackled the Roman. “This is all _YOUR_ fault!” He shouted as he pinned Octavian down with ease. Some people gasped, others were quiet, waiting. “She’s _dead_ because of you!”

"Percy!" Jason ran forward and he grabbed the back of Percy’s shirt, pulling him off of Octavian.

"I told you!" Octavian shouted.

Percy pushed against Jason, but the taller demigod held him back. “Percy, stop. This isn’t what Annabeth would have wanted you to do.” Percy’s gaze flickered to Jason’s. He was quiet and then he let out a shaky breath before he turned to Octavian.

"You’re wrong. And to prove you wrong, I’m not going to hurt you." Percy looked at the other campers and spoke louder. "You decide now — you want to let go of the past, fine, you’re welcomed here. But if you want to still hold a grudge, get out of my camp. I don’t want to see your face ever again." And then he turned, letting Jason lead him to Annabeth. His shoulders slumped.

Jason led him to Annabeth, where they’d rested her on one of the tables. Percy sat down and looked over at where they usually gave some of their food as an offering to the Gods. Then he looked back at Annabeth and used all of his energy not to cry again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object. He turned it over in his hands before he slipped it onto Annabeth’s left ring finger.

"Y-you…" He cleared his throat. "…You were g-going to be my forever, W-Wise Girl…" He let out a shaky breath and held her hand tightly, but no one squeezed his hand back.


End file.
